At only 28 years old, he said motivating himself for a third consecutive gold in London should be no problem.

“The Olympic Games is a massive motivation for every athlete and four years passes quickly, as it has from Athens to Beijing,” said Absalon.

“So why not? But right now, I just want to savor this gold.”

Absalon kept the gold in French hands for the third Olympics in a row — following Miguel Martinez’s victory at Sydney in 2000 — thanks to a commanding display early in the 36km race which left his big rivals trailing.

Jean-Christophe Peraud finished second at 1:07 to hand France the silver medal while Nino Schurter raced ahead of Swiss compatriot and world champion Christoph Sauser late in the race to claim the bronze.

The highly-fancied Swiss trio failed to match Absalon’s pace after he had begun to steadily grind out a lead by the second of eight laps.

In the end, it allowed him to join an elite club of Olympic athletes who have come in with the pressure, and survived to confirm their champion status.

“It’s great to do the double. It feels totally different (from 2004), but this just confirms what I achieved in Athens,” added Absalon, who denied that he had made his victory look easy.

“I had as tough a race as everyone else. When I saw the chance to make the break I went for it. After that I really gave it everything I had.”

Pulling ahead early was all part of Absalon’s strategy, and the demanding course and 32 degree Celsius heat did the rest as his rivals failed to close the gap.

The Frenchman had given his rivals a sniff of the Olympic gold earlier this year when he failed to win a fifth consecutive world title, with Sauser claiming the crown in a Swiss podium sweep.

Beijing Men’s XC: With Absalon and Peraud long-gone, this group rode for the bronze.